Nick Loudon - motorsport photographer

Having hi-jacked the Ron Harris thread and after speaking to Nick Loudon, motorsport photographer and lion tamer extraordinaire, he is delighted that we have remembered him and shown some of his images. With his permission, I thought it might be a good idea to put his work in one place where we can all see them.

Jim Clark, Oulton Gold Cup 1966.

Chris Amon, Oulton Gold Cup 1968.

Jackie Stewart in the Chequered Flag Elan leads Peter Arundell in the Ian Walker 'goldbug' version at Mallory in 1964.

Peter Arundell in the Ron Harris F2 Lotus 35 at Mallory in 1965.

Jim Clark in his Ron Harris type 35 at the Palace in '65.

Jack Sears in the Lotus 30 at Silverstone in 1965.

Nick has said he will post more to me to be scanned at a later date, he doesn't do the internet.

Posted by Michael Hipperson in the Harris thread and copied here:Photographer extraordinaire Nick Loudon morphed as a MADMAN:

This missive from Nick yesterday....to the moderators..yes there is motorsport content !

The Amon photo is just brilliant.
After years of no contact with Chris they are talking again.
This photo was Enzo's favourite and hung in his house.

The Elans...framed and signed by Stewart,Arundell,Ian Walker(RIP)Graham Warner,Clive Chapman,Cedric Selzer and Bob Dance sold for £450 this year at our charity bash.
The Clark H16 sold for £750 last year. The Type 35 £500 last year. Both these signed by the great and good.

LAT have a very similar shot from the same place, same event etc and I'm very proud to say that Chris signed a copy for me. Chris intended to display his copy in pride of place alongside the similarly-framed study of Fangio at Rouen in '57.

Fabulous - I believe that a print of Nick's Amon shot still adorns a corridor in Maranello!

He was standing right on the edge of the track with a press photographer from a Manchester newpaper.
Because Amon and Nick were friends there was probably some setting up of this shot although the drift was on every lap.
First time around the press fellow felt the exhaust heat as the Ferrari swept by....'I'm not effing standing here' he said and ran off. Wimp.

When I showed this photo to Alan Henry a couple of years ago....'Ah ! the Loudon signature photo '.

Originally posted by Andrew Kitson Thanks to Michael, more of Nick's amazing work:

Mystery photo, any ideas who, where, when? ( Shelsley?)

It looks, as you intimated, very much like Shelsley Walsh. The bank in the background and with the shadow of the railings in the foreground.

As to the Who and When there should also be a What!

The front looks a bit like the Phil Scragg Lola T70 with the Williams & Pritchard body but there is no Roll Over Bar or Inlet Trumpets sticking up. I then thought I might be the ex-Phil Scragg HWM-Jaguar but it looks a shade too small for that particular beastie!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Andrew Kitson
[B]Thanks to Michael, more of Nick's amazing work:

Salmon & Salvadori fight it out at Brands.

[QUOTE]

Great photos! My earliest recollections of racing Jaguars was at Brands, and if this is the 6 hour race, then I was in attendance, Nick was obviously quite near to where I usually stood. Love the headlight reflections in the wet track.

Sterling...yes The Motor 6 hours 1962. Salmon first on the road...but disqualified for 'engine irregularities'..thinking valve gear?When the scrutineers asked to check the other Jaguars....surprise,surprise they had all gone home in one of the quickest competitor exodus' in the history of Brands.

Salmon and Salvadori both signed for our auction.

This letter accompanied the signed photo back from Roy S in Monaco. Thought you might like to view.

Salmon's co driver on the day was Peter SutcliffeSalvadori's was Denny Hulme.

Car 30. I am not dismissing David's Maggie Blankstone suggestion as I am in no position to do so, So, possibly Anita Taylor, long shot I grant you, collecting signatures etc before her foray into Anglias?
Roger Lund

Great story on the Bentley............Nick told this tale with gusto when he spoke to 150 Lotus enthusiasts at our fund raiser in Le Touquet last year.
Forrest Lycett would have approved of our venue...The Hotel Westminster.

Nick regaled us with more anecdotes in the bar till 2 am when he was halted by the sound of one of our number. a police inspector, playing the bagpipes.
This was followed by our auctioneer Robert Edwards ( Archie & The Listers) being propelled at great speed, strapped into a Louis X1V ornamental wheeled chair . With sudden retardation he was ejected onto all fours into the foyer.

The only comment was from some incoming French guests....'Ah ! Les Anglaises'.

Hipperson, I think your are describing the 1963 event. 1962 was the first year the Motor Six Hours was held, in dry conditions. It was won by Mike Parkes and my uncle, Jimmy Blumer, in the Equipe Endeavour Jaguar Mk. II 3.8. The result was confirmed ten days after the meeting, after the non-standard front hub carrier was deamed legal.

In the rain of 1963, Salmon and Sutcliffe were disqualified, as you suggest, for oversize inlet valves on thier Mk. II.

The Cobra is being driven by Chris Amon at presumably the Guards Trophy Brands Hatch in 1964 for Tommy Atkins, can't recall any other detail whilst the Ferrari 250GTO is the Colonel's 1963 TT winner 4399 GT rebodied in this '64 'LM' style obviously at the same meeting driven by Innes Ireland, although I don't think there was a co-driver. Do you mean Graham Hill who drove the other Maranello Concessionaires entry, the 330P 0818 which he later won the Goodwood TT with?

Meanwhile what wonderful photos, and what a mockery they make of souless, sterile, modern long focal length lens shots that have all the appeal and appearance of computer generated special effects by comparison.

Paul...
I have Innes Ireland's co driver as Mike Salmon. And yes the 64/GT0 4399. DNF with brake problems
On the Cobra with a young Amon.....Tommy Atkins daughter Ursula reads these boards so she will enjoy the snap.

Without referring to period info back in England I would assume that Mike Salmon was the nominated spare driver of 4399, and later a Maranello regular of course but I don't recall him driving the car, the Guards Trophy did not require another pedaller but perhaps he tried it during practice.

Did we ever resolve who the driver was? As a bonus it is always a delight to bring foward Nick Loudon's material. For those not familiar with his work, just scroll through the whole thread and enjoy it.Roger Lund

Nick was always outstandingly proficient not only as a photographer but also as a printer. His attention to detail in producing his prints stood head and shoulders above all his peers, shading my pal Geoff Goddard, Michael Cooper, Nigel Snowdon etc. They were mostly under greater pressure to get their work out and on the picture editors' desks whereas Nick was more the hyper-enthusiastic semi-professional - and his end product benefited hugely from that. I have always been a great fan of his work...and here you can all see why.

I'm glad I was around to shoot the latter '70s, and feel really lucky compared to if I were starting today.... but still wish I'd been in the '60s.

Indeed. How I would have loved the chance to stand on the inside of Copse in the 1960s and 1970s. I was, however, fortunate enough to be able to stand on the apex inside Old Hall Corner at Oulton Park and took some shots that I was quite pleased with. I agree with you, great thread.

Man, those were the days to shoot racing, close up and at one's own risk (of getting something nobody else would have!). Life's greatest things always carry some risk, IMHO.

I'm glad I was around to shoot the latter '70s, and feel really lucky compared to if I were starting today.... but still wish I'd been in the '60s.

This thread blows my mind.

The Sixties were the best (in my view) for motor racing and photography, although the in the latter years as commercialism and "safety" measures crept in, in became harder to get close to the action - no more shooting at Stowe or Club with a 50 mm. lens! I used to attend many of the same races as Nick, and there is a photo of him, and Max Le Grand, in my book "Jim Clark - Life at Team Lotus" in the Crystal Palace section.

The Sixties were the best (in my view) for motor racing and photography, although the in the latter years as commercialism and "safety" measures crept in, in became harder to get close to the action - no more shooting at Stowe or Club with a 50 mm. lens! I used to attend many of the same races as Nick, and there is a photo of him, and Max Le Grand, in my book "Jim Clark - Life at Team Lotus" in the Crystal Palace section.

Nice, I'm glad for you to have been there, spectacular and memorable for life! (and why we shoot).

For me it started in 1975, in the States, first credential before I was 16. I made do with a 135mm as my "big lens" and also filled frames with my 50mm. Never forgot it. Best for me to think that's still possible now....?